US-listed Transocean’s $3.38bn move to acquire Songa Offshore will result in a fleet of 55 floating assets and make the combined entity about 40% larger than its nearest competitor, Seadrill.

Because of Songa’s $4.1bn in contracts with Statoil, the deal also increases Transocean’s total backlog of work by 40% to $14.3bn.

Transocean chief financial officer Mark Mey says the combined entity will generate at least $2bn of revenue each year to 2019 and then $1bn in revenue per year to 2023.